Indian diplomat indicted, told to leave U.S.

Associated Press

January 9, 2014

Photo: Mohammed Jaffer / Associated Press

Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, 39, was accused by a federal grand jury of fraudulently obtaining a work visa for her New York housekeeper and making false statements about how much she paid her. The case has triggered animosity toward the United States in her country.

Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, 39, was accused by a federal...

NEW YORK — An Indian diplomat accused of lying about how much she paid her housekeeper was asked to leave the United States on Thursday after she was indicted on two criminal charges and Indian authorities refused to waive immunity, officials said.

Devyani Khobragade, who was been strip-searched when arrested, was expected to leave the country late Thursday or early Friday after she was charged by a federal grand jury with visa fraud and making false statements in a case that has triggered an outcry in India.

She's accused of fraudulently obtaining a work visa for her New York housekeeper.

A federal official said the U.S. accepted India's request to accredit her to the United Nations, which confers broader immunity than what she enjoyed as a consular official. It would be almost unprecedented for the U.S. to deny such a request unless the diplomat were a national security risk.

The United States asked the government of India to waive the immunity, but the Indians refused, the official said.

The United States then “requested her departure” from the country, the official said.

Authorities say Khobragade claimed to pay her Indian maid $4,500 per month but actually gave her far less than the U.S. minimum wage.

The maid, Sangeeta Richard, said in her first public statement Thursday that she had planned to work in the U.S. for a few years to support her family, then return to India.

“I never thought that things would get so bad here, that I would work so much that I did not have time to sleep or eat or have time to myself,” she said in a statement released by the anti-trafficking group Safe Horizon.

She tried to return to India because of how she'd been treated, she said, but her request was denied.

“I would like to tell other domestic workers who are suffering as I did — you have rights, and do not let anyone exploit you,” Richard said.

In India, the housekeeper has been vilified and accused of blackmailing her employer, while Khobragade's arrest last month sparked mass outrage after revelations that she was strip-searched and thrown in a cell with other defendants.